Glimpse of the Future
by boswifedeb
Summary: Plagued by nightmares and unable to sleep, Matt is called in to help Homeland Security find a cell of domestic terrorists. Can the nightmares be part of the solution – or just a warning? Rated T for violence. **This story immediately follows "The Quadruple Cross". Not my characters, just borrowing for a while.
1. Chapter 1

**Glimpse of the Future**

****This story immediately follows the "The Quadruple Cross"****

**CHAPTER 1**

"NO!" Matt screamed and sat straight up in bed, covered in sweat. The lamp on the other side of the bed turned on and CJ sat up looking startled. "Hon, are you okay?" She touched Matt's arm.

He nodded trying to catch his breath. Sitting up on the side of the bed, he put his head in his hands. CJ reached over and rubbed his back. "What is it – Iraq?"

Matt shook his head. "I don't know. There's a big explosion and a ball of fire." He had hardly slept in over a week because of the recurring nightmare. He got up and walked over to the closet, pulling out a pair of jeans and a t-shirt, and began getting dressed. CJ looked at the clock on the nightstand: 2:11am.

"Hon, come on back to bed. You need to get some rest." She got up and went over to him, wrapping her arms around him. He could feel the baby kicking in her belly. She was in her twenty eighth week of pregnancy.

"No, you need to get some rest and I'm not helping the matter any." He zipped his jeans, put the t-shirt on, and pulled on his boots.

"Matt, that cold you have isn't going to get any better if you don't rest." Matt didn't get sick very often – which was a good thing because he got extremely grumpy. "Maybe it's the cold medicine. We should try some other kind."

He shook his head no and headed out of the bedroom and into the kitchen. After starting a pot of coffee, he sat down at the kitchen table, his head in his hands, trying to remember exactly what he had seen in the dream. He closed his eyes and thought. There was sand and dirt; it was very dry and extremely hot: a desert. Maybe it was Iraq, but he had never had a nightmare quite like this one before. Usually his nightmares from the time he was in the Army were about things that he had actually been through. This was different. Sure he had witnessed plenty of explosions during his time in the military, but that wasn't what he was seeing. He wasn't sure why, but it wasn't an IED or grenade; it was something else. As hard as he tried he just couldn't see what the flames were shooting out of, but it felt so real. He could feel the earth shake and feel the heat of the flames when the dream occurred. Plus, he hadn't had one of those nightmares in a few months, not since his mission with the Navy SEAL's when he had guided them to the hideout of the terrorist who had planned and financed many attacks around the world.

When the coffee was ready he poured some into a travel mug and walked out of the kitchen and down to the barn. The fresh air and sound of the crickets chirping helped to calm him down. He stepped inside the barn and turned on the light, then sat down on a bale of hay and took a sip of the coffee and tasted absolutely nothing. "Damn cold." Still, the hot coffee felt good to his sore throat. Taking another sip, he looked around. Bo and Lamar, his two hands at the California ranch did a good job – maybe too good. He was looking for something to do, something that would tire him out so hopefully he could sleep and not dream. Climbing up into the hayloft, he turned on the light and started moving bales of hay and restacking them, straightening up the space. After he had spent an hour on it, there was nothing else to be done so he descended the ladder and went to the tack room and began cleaning and straightening the harness and saddles that were in there. After another hour he had run out of things to do. He climbed back up into the loft and sat on a bale of hay, leaning back against the wall of the barn and looked at the stars outside.

At 6:00 am CJ shut off the alarm clock and got out of the bed. Matt hadn't come back after she had drifted back off. She went to the bathroom and turned on the shower. Climbing in under the steamy water, she wondered where he had landed. One night he had stayed out on the patio by the pool; another night he was on the tailgate of his truck. The one thing that she knew was that she was making a doctor's appointment for him. Carol might not be able to cure the common cold but she could sure prescribe something to make him sleep. Of course as stubborn as he was, she would be lucky to get him to take it – if she could even get him into the doctor's office.

After getting dressed, CJ went looking for him. He wasn't in the house or on the patio. She stopped and looked around. He wasn't in or on the truck. _Maybe the barn?_ she thought to herself and headed down that way. "Matt?" She didn't hear an answer and walked on inside, looking around but not seeing him. Then she went to the tack room. He wasn't there either. "Matt?" Still no answer. She looked around and spied the ladder up to the hayloft. Very carefully, she climbed up and once she set foot in the loft, she found him: lying on a bale of hay sound asleep. She walked over to him and felt his forehead with the back of her hand. He was feverish. _Now what do I do? _Since he was finally asleep, she didn't want to wake him but knew that he needed to be inside. Sleeping in the hayloft wasn't going to help his cold any, but she knew he was exhausted. Looking around she found an old jacket that someone had left up there and covered him with it, then went back down the ladder and back to the house.

Carol LeMaster was not only CJ and Matt's doctor; the two women had been sorority sisters. They were still best friends. CJ picked up the phone and called her friend's cell phone.

"Hello?" The voice always sounded cheerful, no matter what was going on.

"Hi Carol. I hate to call you so early, but I've got a problem."

"Okay CJ, what did he get into now?" Carol was used to hearing about Matt getting shot, stabbed, or hurt in various ways in his job as a private investigator.

"A cold. But that's not the worst of it. He's barely slept in the last week. He's having a recurring nightmare. Do you think you might be able to give him something? He's never going to get over the cold at this rate."

"Sure. Just tell him to come to the office and I'll work him in." She had a feeling she wouldn't be seeing him – Matt liked her as a person but hated going to the doctor and would use just about any excuse to get out of it.

"That's going to be hard to do. I've got to go to Hawaii to take care of a business deal this morning." There was no way she could postpone it.

"I really don't like to give out anything without seeing someone, especially when he's already got a cold."

"Okay, I'll talk to him and see if I can get Uncle Roy to herd him in there." Both women laughed.

"Well if anybody can do it, I'm sure Roy can. I'll tell Christie to send him on back when he gets there – that way he can't skip out on me."

CJ thanked her and hung up. It was 6:45. She picked up the phone again and called Roy, who answered in a chipper voice on the first ring. "Hi Uncle Roy."

"Good morning, beautiful niece of mine!" He was always so cheerful; she wondered how he did it.

"I wish it was. Look, I need your help." She explained about Matt and told him what Carol had said.

"Oh boy, well, I could always hog tie him and throw him in the back of the truck, I guess." They both laughed. "Okay CJ, I'll get him there."

"Thanks Uncle Roy. Guess I better get my bag and head out. Take care of him for me, okay?"

"You know I will. You be careful while you're gone. Don't get too tired, alright?"

"Okay. Thanks again. 'Bye." She hung up and went back to get her suitcase and loaded it into her Navigator. Bo and Lamar were heading toward the barn from the bunkhouse so she drove down to let them know what was going on. They agreed to keep an eye on Matt and try to help Roy get him to Carol's office. She parked the Navigator and got out, walking into the barn and climbing back up into the loft again with the two cowboys following. She and Matt had a rule: you never leave without telling the other goodbye, no matter what. Quietly she walked over to where he was laying, and knelt down beside him, giving him a kiss on the forehead. "Good bye, Matt. Love you." She kissed him again and then headed back down the ladder with Bo in the lead and Lamar following her.

"Don't you worry none, CJ; we'll make sure he gets to the doc." Lamar opened the door of the SUV for her and closed it behind her.

"Thanks guys." She put the Navigator in gear and headed down the driveway on her way to the airport. If there was any way she could have put off the meeting, she would have. But it had already been rescheduled twice because the Houston Industries lawyer who was supposed to handle it was in the hospital. Murray Chase, the CEO of the company, had asked her to take care of it for him. It had been over two years since she had done any work for the company that used to be Matt's. He had put it in Murray's care and had given up control and the profits from it. Instead, all of the profits were put into trust for various charities. Thousands of people were being helped. Although it had put a dent in Matt's finances, he was much happier. He had worked with Derwin Dunlap on a project called BugBytes, which involved surveillance equipment, and had also worked with him on a video game. Both ventures had proved to be profitable and he had already recovered from the hit he took when he gave away the corporation.

Strange as it sounded, though, Matt wasn't interested in the money. He had worked with Derwin on the BugBytes program in order to be able to conduct surveillance while still staying safe. Plus the profits from the video game weren't going into his pocket. He hadn't told them yet, but he was putting all the money that he made from it into trust funds for Vince Novelli's four sons and Michael Hoyt's daughter.

CJ arrived at the airport and boarded the Lear jet, headed for Hawaii. She hadn't told Matt, but Vince Novelli and his mother Rosa were going to come back with her for a visit. Hopefully he would be feeling better by the time they got back in two days. As the plane took off, CJ couldn't explain it, but she had a really bad feeling that something was going to happen. _You're just out of sorts because of the way your morning got started. Snap out of it! s_he thought to herself. Opening her brief case, she pulled out the contract that was the reason for her trip to Hawaii and began going over it again so that she would be fully prepared to discuss it with the client that she was going to meet.


	2. Chapter 2

**CHAPTER 2**

"Lt. Hoyt, Agent Oakley from Homeland Security is on line one for you, sir." Luis Sanchez walked back to his desk. That was the third time in two days that Oakley had called the lieutenant. He wondered what was going on.

"Hoyt." Lt. Michael Hoyt of the LAPD was, as usual, tired. It had been a long week already and work just kept piling up. He had five murders he was trying to investigate and two detectives out sick.

"Lieutenant, it's Agent Oakley, Homeland Security again. We've narrowed down the search area to the eastern part of the county. Your chief has told me that you've got a private investigator there that helps you out on occasion. Houston, I believe his name was. I think we need to call him in on this."

Hoyt didn't know what to say. Houston had been taking time off from the detective agency since he and CJ found out that she was pregnant. He knew of a couple of cases in Texas that he had worked and he had more recently worked with the Hawaiian State Police Task Force known as Five-0. But Hoyt had avoided calling him in to help.

"Uh, Agent Oakley I'll give him a call, but I can't guarantee that he'll be able to help." He really didn't want to call him in, but knew that it really was an important matter.

"I would appreciate it if you could talk him into it." Oakley had been on the trail of the terrorist group for almost six months and had been steadily closing in on them, but according to what he had been able to learn from internet chatter the hit that they were planning would be happening within days and he still didn't have an accurate location on them.

"Alright, I'll give him a call and get right back to you." Hoyt disconnected the call and hit Houston's number on his speed dial. He didn't get an answer and the call went to voice mail, which was unusual. Houston rarely missed a phone call. But, the detective thought, he did lose or kill phones quite frequently so he dialed CJ's number.

"Hi Hoyt, what's going on?" CJ had checked the caller ID hoping that it was Matt or Roy.

"CJ, I hate to bother you, but is Matt there with you?"

"No, I'm on my way to a meeting in Hawaii and he's at the ranch. Is something wrong?"

"I need his help. Actually, Homeland Security needs his help." Hoyt really hated to tell her for fear that she might get upset.

"Oh, well, did you try calling Roy? He's supposed to be taking Matt to the doctor. He's been having trouble sleeping and you know how stubborn he can be."

"No, but I will. You take it easy and have a good time. Thanks."

"No problem. 'Bye." She hung up. Homeland Security – that wasn't what she had expected to hear.

Hoyt dialed Roy's number and it was answered on the first ring. "Hi, Michael."

"Hey, Roy. Is Houston with you?"

"Well, almost. I'm pulling up the driveway at the ranch as we speak. Want me to have him call you right back?"

"I would appreciate it. I just got a phone call from Homeland Security and they need his help." Hoyt reached into his pocket and pulled out a roll of antacids.

"I'll do it. Talk to you in a bit." Roy hung up as he pulled up in front of the barn where Lamar and Bo were waiting for him.

"He's still in the loft." Bo pointed to the upper floor of the barn. The three men walked into the barn and Roy climbed the ladder to the loft. After his eyes adjusted to the darkness he could make out Matt near the loft door sleeping on a bale of hay, an old jacket on the floor beside him as he lay there snoring. He walked over to his nephew and felt his forehead: fever. He knelt down. "Matt?" He gently shook the man with no response. "Matt, come on boy, wake up for me." Nothing. He shook a little harder and flew backwards as his nephew suddenly sat up with a panicked look on his face. "Take it easy, Matt, I didn't mean to scare you. CJ wants me to take you to Carol's and Hoyt just called needing to talk to you. He said Homeland Security needs your help."

Matt sat up on the bale of hay, breathing heavily. "Oh, okay. Sorry Uncle Roy." His hoarse voice took Roy by surprise.

"Tell you what, let's get you in the car and you can call Hoyt on the way to Carol's." He didn't like the way Matt sounded or looked at all.

"No, I'm not going to Carol's." He got up and headed down the ladder and up toward the house.

"What're you doing, Matt?" Roy had made it down to the bottom floor of the barn and started after his nephew.

"Getting my phone." He walked on up to the house and back into the bedroom to collect his phone. It was showing a missed call from Hoyt. He dialed the man and headed into the kitchen and poured coffee into another travel mug – he had left the other one somewhere in the barn. "Hey, did you call?"

"Yeah, I did. Houston, you sound terrible." He was completely taken by surprise at the raspy voice on the other end of the line.

"Uncle Roy said something about Homeland Security. What's up?" He popped the top on the mug and headed out toward his truck as Uncle Roy pulled up.

"Agent Oakley says they need your help. I'm not up on all the particulars but he wants us to meet him ASAP. Look, I'll tell him you can't make it. You need to get over whatever it is that you've got."

"No, Hoyt, I'm fine. Where are we meeting?" He pulled out his keys and opened the door of his truck.

"Here at my office. Look Houston, I really think you need to pass on this one…"

Matt cut in. "Hoyt, I don't need a nurse maid so cut the crap." He got into the truck as Uncle Roy walked up to him looking shocked. Matt rarely used any four letter words and he sure didn't talk to his friends that way.

Looking over at the expression on Roy's face, Matt sighed. "I'm sorry, Hoyt. Look I'm on my way now. Be there as soon as I can. 'Bye." He hung up and closed the truck door and rolled down the window.

"I'll follow you in my car, Matt." Roy shot him a somewhat disgusted look. Matt had a habit of getting extremely cranky when he didn't feel good, but he was worse this time than Roy could ever remember him being.

"Great." Matt slapped the truck into gear and headed out down the driveway and towards the police station. He had missed telling CJ goodbye and it just didn't feel right. Hitting her number on speed dial, he set the phone on speaker.

"Hi, sweetie, how're you feeling?" She answered on the first ring.

"I'm alright. Sorry I missed you before you left." They had been married almost a year ago and were four days away from their first anniversary.

"Well you were sleeping good and I didn't want to wake you. Hoyt called looking for you."

"Yeah, I'm on my way to his office now. How are you feeling?"

"I'm fine. But you sound terrible, hon."

"I'm okay. Do you think you'll be back Friday?"

"I should be. Matt, you really need to go see Carol. She's expecting you and said she would see you as soon as you get there."

"I'm fine, CJ. You be careful and don't get too tired. I love you, Babe."

"Love you, too hon. Look, go see Carol after your meeting."

"Talk to you later. 'Bye." He hung up.

CJ sat staring at her phone, wanting to go up to the cockpit of the plane and tell Blake to turn it around and go back home. She was worried about Matt and couldn't shake the feeling that something bad was about to happen.


	3. Chapter 3

**CHAPTER 3**

Matt and Roy rode up together in the elevator to Hoyt's office. Matt was rubbing his eyes and looked up to see his uncle watching him. "I'm sorry, Uncle Roy."

The older man smiled and shook his head. "Apology accepted, Matt, but promise me this: that you'll go see Carol before the end of the day."

"I don't make promises I can't keep." Matt stepped off of the elevator and walked on around to Michael Hoyt's office and through the door.

"Matt, Roy: this is Agent Chris Oakley, Homeland Security." Hoyt introduced the men and they all had a seat.

"Gentlemen, I appreciate you coming here on such short notice. We've got a problem – possibly a very big problem. There is a cell of domestic terrorists somewhere in the eastern part of the county. They are part of a larger group that we've been watching for almost a year. Actually a more accurate term would be listening to, not watching. The information that we have has been picked up on the internet. But these folks do everything in code, so it's taken us quite a while to narrow down their locations. Their IP addresses are bounced around through so many countries that it is almost impossible to nail down where they are based. We've gotten it down to the eastern part of Los Angeles County but that's as far as we've been able to take it." He walked over to the map that hung on the wall behind Michael's desk and with his finger outlined the area. "I realize that's a large area, but believe me when I tell you that it's a lot smaller than what we started out with in the beginning."

Matt walked over and looked at the map. "Do you know what they're planning?" Hoyt's head shot up: Matt sounded even worse in person than he had on the phone. He exchanged a look with Roy who just shrugged his shoulders and shook his head. Michael had been around the two Houston men long enough to know that Roy was indicating Matt's stubbornness.

"No, we don't. There have been references to explosions, but other than that, we really don't know what they are up to." Oakley turned and walked over to the window. "I looked into your history, gentlemen, and I believe that if anyone can stop this, it will be you two." He turned back to Matt and Roy and indicated both of them. "We're aware of your work with the CIA, and your work in Army Intelligence."

"Mr. Oakley, what exactly do you know about them? You said domestic terrorists - are they part of a religious group, a militia…?" Matt sat down on the couch and was rubbing his eyes again, Hoyt watching him closely.

"Actually, both. We've learned that they started out as basically a cult and over the last ten years they've expanded into a militia-type organization. Their leader is a man named Colton Morris." He handed Matt a folder. He read through the information, handed the folder to Roy and walked back over to the map. After spending a minute studying it, he walked over to the window and rubbed his eyes again.

"If it's a militia type group, they're going to want a little bit of room to train." He thought back to the case that he and CJ had worked on a few months back that had involved cattle rustling to support a militia group. "Have you talked to the ATF?"

"No, we've been trying to handle this without going through them." Oakley acted a little strange about it.

Matt turned and looked at the man. "With all due respect, Mr. Oakley…," he walked toward the man, "didn't you learn anything after 9/11?" No one said anything. Hoyt looked back and forth between Matt and Oakley, who seemed to be getting mad: his face was turning red.

"Yes, Mr. Houston, I did. But sometimes there are inter-agency problems that …"

"Bull." Matt looked directly into the man's eyes. "What there is, is a bunch of inter-agency jealousy. You do realize that's why the 9/11 terrorists managed to pull off their little fiasco, don't you?"

Uncle Roy tried to diffuse the situation. "Matt, I don't…"

"No, Uncle Roy, I want to hear his excuse."

"There are indications that someone in the ATF might be helping them." Oakley had turned completely red in the face.

"Well let me ask you this: do you know the name of the agent?"

"I can't tell you that."

"Can't or won't, Oakley? They are two different things entirely."

"It isn't allowed, Mr. Houston." Oakley turned back around to Hoyt. "Maybe this was a mistake, Lieutenant." He headed toward the door.

"Yes or no, Oakley. Was the agent's name Gunterson?" Matt had worked with Mitchell Gunterson on the Banakee case.

"No, it wasn't." He turned back toward Matt. "Why?"

"Because I know an ATF agent." He pointed at Hoyt. "Both of us do. Mitchell Gunterson is a damn good agent. Now if you'll let me talk to him about this, he might be able to help."

Oakley looked at Hoyt, who answered, "He is, Oakley."

"Alright, but I want to be there as well." He turned back to Houston. "I knew from the get-go that you had a reputation as a sort of loose cannon, Houston. But I will not tolerate…"

Matt stepped right up to him again. "I get the job done, Oakley. That's what matters most, isn't it? Especially when it comes to something this dangerous?" He looked over at Hoyt. "Would you call him and see if he can meet us?"

Hoyt nodded and started dialing. Matt walked back to look at the map. "Mr. Oakley, it seems to me that San Bernardino County would be a more logical place to have a militia." Oakley walked back over to the map. "It's mostly desert right through there." Matt looked over his shoulder at Roy. "Uncle Roy, I think our "toy" might just come in handy on this what do you think?"

Roy smiled. "You just read my mind boy. I'll go get started on it. Show me exactly where you think we should start." He stepped over to the map and the three men discussed it. "Okay, I'll get on it. Matt, I need to talk to you just a minute, please – privately."

They stepped outside the office. Hoyt was waiting on hold and watched the two. He had a feeling what Roy was saying to Matt, and his idea was pretty well confirmed when he saw Houston's hands go to his hips and he shook his head no. Roy looked slightly mad and then turned and headed for the elevator. Matt leaned against the door for a minute with his eyes closed, then came on in the office and sat down on the couch, leaning his head back and closing his eyes again.

"Mitchell, there you are. Look, are you free? Well, that's good because now you're not. Come on up to my office – we've got something that we need your help with and we need it to be on the QT." He looked over at Oakley and gave him a smile and thumbs up. "Alright, see you in an hour." Hoyt hung up the phone.

Oakley walked toward the door. "I'll be back in forty five minutes. I've got an errand to run." He stepped out and headed for the elevator.

"You got kind of rough on him, didn't you?" He walked over to Houston. There was no response. "Houston?" Nothing. He stepped outside of the office and called Roy who had made it down to his car. "Hey, what's going on with Matt? Is it a cold or what?"

"As far as I know. CJ made him an appointment before she left this morning and you see where he is now."

"Uh huh – on my couch asleep. Maybe a nap will improve his mood. Talk to you in a little while." He went back into the office and started working on paperwork for other cases, looking up occasionally to check on Matt who hadn't so much as moved a muscle. Something was definitely wrong, and Hoyt had a feeling it wasn't just a cold.

Thirty minutes later, while he was still drowning in paperwork, Hoyt had the living daylights scared out of him. Matt came up off the couch screaming, "NO!" Hoyt jumped up and ran over to him.

"What's wrong?!"

Matt looked over at him, wild-eyed and shaking like a leaf. His breaths were short and ragged. Slowly, he sank back down on the couch. Every cop in the outer office had stopped what they were doing, trying to figure out what had just happened. Hoyt knelt down next to his friend. "Hey, take it easy. Look, let me take you to Carol's office. Roy said you had an appointment…"

"No." He was still breathing hard and shaking.

"Houston, something is wrong. Come on, I'll take…"

"I said no, Hoyt." He got up and started for the door, then turned back around and suddenly sat back down on the couch.

"Why in the hell are you so damn stubborn? Do you think you're above having to go to a doctor?" He had just about had it with Matt and his stubbornness.

Houston looked up at him, an almost pitiful look that stopped Hoyt in his tracks. He knelt back down. "Look, man, we're worried about you, okay? Roy, CJ, me – come on. I'll take you." Matt just shook his head no. "At least tell me what's going on. CJ told me this morning that you were having trouble sleeping. What I saw and heard looked like a nightmare. Am I right?" Matt nodded. "How long has this been going on?"

"Almost two weeks." He leaned forward and put his head in his hands. "I keep seeing an explosion in a desert. It's so real, Hoyt. I can feel the heat from the flames and the ground shakes." Matt was still shaking as he leaned back on the couch.

"And you haven't been getting much sleep at all, have you?" Hoyt was looking at his best friend who had dark circles around his eyes. He shook his head no. "Do you think it's got something to do with Iraq?"

Matt shook his head no again. "Those dreams – nightmares – are usually about something that actually happened when I was there – and in Afghanistan. But I haven't had one of them since…" He suddenly realized that he had almost slipped up and told Hoyt about the mission with the SEAL team.

Hoyt stared at him and Matt could see the gears clicking. "That was you wasn't it? Your project that you worked on with Roy…that's what it was. And the toy he talked about earlier – it's got something to do with it." Matt didn't say a word but leaned back on the couch and closed his eyes again. Hoyt lowered his voice. "You went in with that SEAL team and took out…oh my God. No wonder you didn't want CJ to know."

"Hoyt, please don't talk about it, okay?" He was mad at himself for even getting close to mentioning it. His head was pounding and his brain felt like mush. He started to get up but Hoyt pushed him back.

"Where do you think you're going?" His voice dropped to a level that Matt had never heard before and it took him by surprise.

"To get some coffee. My head feels like it's going to explode." He started to get up again and once more, Hoyt pushed him back.

"I'll get it – you just stay put." He walked out into the outer office. The officers had gotten back to work, but were still shooting inquisitive looks towards the lieutenant's office. Walking back into his office, Hoyt handed the cup to Houston, closed all of the blinds, and took a bottle of acetaminophen out of his desk. He sat down on the couch and handed the bottle to Matt, who took two pills out of the bottle and handed it back. He swallowed down the pills and tilted his head back. Hoyt sat and watched him. Within two minutes he was asleep again. Looking at his watch, Hoyt got up and stepped back out into the hallway and called Roy again. "I don't know how, but we've got to make him go to the doctor, Roy."

"What happened?" He knew exactly why Matt hated going to see any doctor, even if it was Carol. Hoyt explained the nightmare and the condition that it had left Matt in.

Roy sighed. "Damn I wish CJ was here. She can get him to do things no one else can. But she won't be back until Friday." He heard a sound on the other end of the line and heard Hoyt scrambling. "Michael, what's going on?"

"Houston, hey man, it's okay. Calm down." Hoyt had tossed his phone on the couch and was trying to get Matt to sit back down. "Easy. There you go. Calm down." He picked the phone back up.

"Another nightmare?" Roy didn't know what to do.

"Yep, same thing. Hang on, Roy." He could hear the two talking. "Roy, he said to get you to look near the Marine Combat Center at Twenty Nine Palms."

"He…okay…" Roy had been close to it anyway and it only took a few seconds for him to pull it up on the screen. "I'm not seeing anything out of the ordinary but it will take a while to search it good." He was confused as to why Matt had suddenly suggested the area. Although from a tactical view it did make sense. "Tell him I'll work on it, but he has to promise me that he'll go to Carol's as soon as the meeting with Gunterson is over."

Hoyt passed the message on. "He agreed." Roy could hear the surprise in Michael's voice. "He's here now and so is Oakley. I'll call you back."

Gunterson came in the door and looked at Matt and his surprise at the man's condition was obvious. "Houston, are you okay, bud?"

Matt nodded and looked at Oakley. "I think I know where they're going to hit."


	4. Chapter 4

**CHAPTER 4**

After bringing Gunterson up to date on what little they knew, Matt stood up and walked over to the window. "I think they're going to try to hit the Marine Combat Training Center at Twenty Nine Palms." Gunterson looked at Hoyt and Oakley. Oakley seemed as surprised as he was.

"Uh, okay. Any particular reason?" Mitchell gave Hoyt a questioning look.

"You're going to think I'm crazy." Matt turned around and walked back to the couch where he sat back down. No one said a word and he picked up his cup of coffee and took a sip, before starting to tell them. His voice was so hoarse they could barely hear him. "I've been having these nightmares…," he looked down into the coffee cup then back up at Oakley. "There's a big explosion and fireball. But a few minutes ago it happened again and right before the explosion I saw a Marine." It had the expected reception from Oakley.

"Oh boy, Hoyt, you didn't tell me you had a psychic on staff." He gave the lieutenant a look of disgust.

"You know what, I took up for you earlier, Oakley, but now I'm not…that man right there has done things that you would not believe." He came around his desk. "Now you haven't known him as long as I have, but I'll tell you what: if he told me the moon would be purple tomorrow I'd believe that there was a very good possibility that it would happen."

Matt looked up at Hoyt, totally astounded. Gunterson looked back at Matt, then over at Hoyt, and then at Oakley. "I haven't known him very long at all, but I know he's damn good at what he does. After what you told me about the militia group and the area, his idea actually makes a lot of sense. It sounds like a reasonable place to start looking – even more so because you don't have a clue where in the hell to start, Oakley."

"Oh so let's all jump on the…" Oakley started in and Hoyt grabbed him by the collar. Gunterson and Matt were frozen in disbelief that the normally non-violent cop had done such a thing.

"You came to us for help and that's what we're trying to do, Oakley. I believe I need to make a call to your boss and see if he wants to send another agent out here." He shook the man. Gunterson stepped over and pushed the two apart.

"Come on guys, we've got a job to do here. You can fight after it's all over." He kept his hands on the chests of both men. "Oakley, you know as well as I do that the training center would be a high value target, am I right?"

"Yeah, I guess so." He straightened his shirt and tie.

"So we start there and work our way outward. Does that make sense to everybody?" They all nodded. "Okay, Houston, what do you need us to do?" He turned and looked at the private investigator.

"My uncle is searching around the area right now with a satellite." Oakley's jaw dropped and Matt saw what was fixing to happen. "Don't ask, because I'm not going to tell you." He stood up. "When he spots something we'll move in. We need to get a team together. Oakley, do you have any idea how many are in the group?"

"We've got estimates of fifty to sixty men. There are possibly women and children at their headquarters, though. We can't be sure."

Matt nodded. "Alright. You put together however many people you think we'll need." He threw the empty cup in the trash. "Hoyt, do you mind giving me a ride?"

"Not at all. Let's go." They walked out of the office and left Gunterson and Oakley to plan the operation.

On the way down to the parking garage, Matt looked over at Hoyt and grinned. "What?" Hoyt tried to look nonchalant.

"Purple?" Matt started laughing, which didn't last long – it made his throat hurt even worse.

"Oh shut up. Lousy PI's are like lightning rods." Hoyt tried to keep from smiling but couldn't help it.

"I'm proud of you." Matt patted him on the shoulder.

They drove through the LA traffic and finally made it to Carol's clinic. As soon as Christie the receptionist saw Matt she waved him on back and got one of the assistants to take him to a treatment room. Hoyt followed along to make sure he didn't try to slip out the back way.

Carol walked into the treatment room a couple of minutes later with a surprised look on her face. "Well, I'm amazed. I didn't think you would actually show up."

"I kinda had to – I promised Uncle Roy." He could barely talk above a whisper.

"Ooookay, let's get a look at you." She stuck the thermometer in his ear and grunted, then put the blood pressure cuff on his arm. "Uh huh." Matt looked at Hoyt and rolled his eyes. "Open up, Houston…" she looked at his throat. "Mary, Joseph, and a grilled cheese sandwich!" She reached for a culture swab and took a sample from the back of his throat, causing Matt to almost choke. He shot her a dirty look. "How long have you had this sore throat?" She was typing into his record on the computer.

"About a week." Matt looked at Hoyt and rolled his eyes again.

"Don't do the eye roll thing with me, Houston, I'll tell CJ and she'll put a whoopin' on you." She continued to type.

"Are you planning on telling me what's going on or do I have to play twenty questions?" His mood hadn't improved.

"You know what?" She turned and looked at him. "I don't think you could play twenty questions. That voice would probably play out before you got to number seven."

Hoyt cracked up and Matt shot him a dirty look.

"Houston, you've got a really bad case of tonsillitis to go along with your cold. Those suckers have got to come out – now." She started to pick up the phone and Matt stopped her.

"I can't do that right now." He looked her dead in the eye.

"Well, you're sure going to – or do you want me to call CJ?" She put her hand on her hip.

"Carol, I seriously can't right now. I've got something important…" his voice left him. He looked at Hoyt and pointed between him and Carol.

"He really does, Carol. We can't tell you what's going on, but I swear to you, as soon as it's over I will personally take him where ever he needs to go to get it done."

She looked at both of them and tapped her toe. Matt's expression was serious and so was Hoyt's. "Oh alright. BUT…you will get to the hospital as soon as this is over. It's not something to play with, Matt. Do you understand? You've got a major infection going on. Your temp is 102 degrees and your blood pressure is on the low side. Yours usually runs a little lower than most people. If your temp spikes, your blood pressure will drop and you might well pass out. Just like that." She snapped her fingers. "I don't want you driving, understand?" He nodded. "I'm going to give you a shot of antibiotic and some prednisolone to help take down the swelling in your throat. But this is just a temporary fix. Those need to come out within forty eight hours. No excuses, no delays. Got it?" He nodded again. She turned to the cabinet at the back of the exam room and pulled out what she needed and started loading the syringes. "I'm going to need a hip." Matt unfastened his belt and the button on his jeans, then lowered the right side when she came back over. After swabbing the area with alcohol, she gave him the first shot. Hoyt saw him wince as the medicine went in. Then she grabbed the second syringe and gave him the other shot. "Alright, I mean it, Houston. Forty eight hours or less. I'll get you a prescription for more antibiotics filled and you can pick it up out front on your way out." He nodded again and tried to thank her but his voice was gone. "You're welcome, hon." Turning to Hoyt she said, "Keep him out of trouble…and good luck with whatever it is you two are doing." They both nodded and she left.

As they got in Hoyt's car, he looked over at Matt. "I guess you know this means you're being childish, right?" He grinned as Matt shot him yet another dirty look. "I'm just kidding. You've got to admit, it's usually kids that you hear about with tonsillitis." Matt nodded. "You know, this sore throat thing is kinda peaceful." Houston gave Hoyt a rude gesture. "Do it again and I'm gonna tell CJ." Matt tilted his head back and closed his eyes, sighing heavily. Just then his phone rang: CJ. He handed the phone over to Hoyt.

"Hi CJ. No, he's here he just can't talk. Literally. His voice is gone… As a matter of fact we just left there. He's got to get his tonsils out… Yep, that's what I told him and he… uh huh, that's exactly what he did." Hoyt grinned over at him. "Okay, hang on." He hit the speaker and laid the phone on the seat between them. "Go ahead."

"Matt, you better do what Carol said. When is he supposed to get them out, Michael?"

"She gave him a deadline of forty eight hours. We're kind of in the middle of something major and she agreed to give him that long but no longer."

"Ah hah. Well, I think this will be wrapped up here tomorrow and I'm going to fly out just as soon as possible. And Matt, I've got a big surprise for you." She had his attention. "I'm going to let you go, but you do what Carol tells you and I will be back just as quick as I can, hon. I love you."

Matt wanted so badly to tell her that he loved her, too but nothing would come out. "He says he loves you, too Babe." Michael had used Matt's pet term for CJ; he looked at his friend who nodded.

"Okay, you two be careful. 'Bye." She hung up and looked over at Vince and Rosa Novelli.

"Boy, this is a first. I've only seen him shot, stabbed, beaten up, and hit by cars but I've never seen him sick. I didn't think he did that." Vince grinned.


	5. Chapter 5

**CHAPTER 5**

"Who is it?" Roy was locked inside of Matt's office using the satellite when there was a knock on the door.

"It's us." Michael and Matt were standing just outside the door.

Roy got up and went over to open it, but only a crack. "Matt, do you…"

Matt nodded and managed to just get out, "He knows." Roy opened the door for them and then locked it behind them.

Hoyt looked around. "So whose office is this? I've never been in here before."

Matt pointed to himself. "I never use it – except for this." He pointed at the computer screen.

Michael's jaw dropped when he saw what was on the monitor. "Oh my God, that is amazing. That's a lot of detail. How did you…never mind, I don't want to know." Matt and Roy looked at each other and grinned.

"What did Carol say?" He looked over at his nephew. Matt pointed to Hoyt and went to sit down in front of the computer and began searching for the militia headquarters. Hoyt told Roy about the forty eight hour deadline for Matt to get his tonsils out. "So you're being childish, huh?" Matt started to raise his hand and Roy shook his head. "Don't you even…" Matt grinned and went back to what he was doing. He suddenly got a look on his face. "What?" Roy had seen it.

Matt opened his mouth to try to tell them what had just occurred to him, but his voice was gone again. He snatched a pad of paper off of the desk and began quickly writing. He told them about how he and Gunterson had found the arms dealer's underground bunker in the helicopter: an outline of the bunker could be seen in the dirt from the air.

"Yeah, but you're not flying. Carol said no driving and you're sure as hell not flying." Hoyt stared at Matt, who shook his head no, and motioned to the computer. "Oh, we can look for the outline with the satellite. Gotcha. DUH!"

Houston cracked up and went back to searching the area. He stood up and was about to step out of the office to go get some coffee but suddenly sat back down. "Matt, are you okay?" Roy quickly made it to his nephew's side. He had gone completely white and his eyes were closed. Nodding, he started to get up again. "Where were you going?" Roy pushed him back down in the chair. Matt made a drinking motion.

"Coffee?" Hoyt had guessed right; Matt nodded. "I'll get it, you stay put." He turned and walked out to the coffee pot that was behind the bar, poured a cup and brought it back to Matt. Roy had rolled Matt's office chair down to the other end of the desk closest to the door and had moved another chair in front of the monitor where he was now searching the San Bernardino area of desert. Hoyt handed his friend the cup of coffee and noticed his hand shaking as he took it.

Matt grabbed the pad of paper and scribbled a note to Hoyt: "Go get CJ's chair." The policeman nodded and was back in a minute with the chair from the lawyer's desk. He locked the door when he came back in. "I'm guessing Chris doesn't know about this either?" Matt shook his head no, then leaned back in the chair and propped his feet on the desk, watching the computer monitor along with Roy. A few minutes later, Michael spoke. "I had a feeling he would tap out before too long." He removed the cup of coffee from Matt's hand.

Roy turned and looked at Matt, whose head was tilted back on the back of the chair. He was asleep. "He really needs to get those tonsils out now, but we'd have to knock him over the head to get him there."

Hoyt nodded and looked back up at the monitor, searching for any sign of a bunker or anything that looked suspicious. "This is what he spent the $5,000,000 on, isn't it?" Roy nodded. Hoyt let out a low whistle. "I figured out this morning what he had done – with the SEAL team." Roy didn't say anything. "No wonder he was so worried."

Roy nodded. "He was pretty upset with having to keep something from CJ. Those two have been sharing everything since they were ten. It even caused their first fight as a married couple." He chuckled. "You know, it doesn't seem like it's been a year since they were married."

"But in a way it's like they've been married the whole time that I've known them. Hell, when I first met CJ I thought they were married." He laughed. "She called him earlier. Said she would be back tomorrow. She's leaving as soon as the deal is settled."

"Good. He needs her." He moved the satellite to the next grid. Suddenly Matt screamed and came up out of the chair. "Boy, are you okay?" Roy thought his nephew had just scared about ten years of life out of him.

"It's a tanker!" Matt looked at Roy and then Hoyt. "A tanker." He sat back down and thought for a minute. "I'll bet…" His voice left him again and he grabbed the pad of paper. "Aviation fuel" he wrote down and looked at the two men.

Roy agreed. "That could sure enough make for a big fireball, Matt. I think you might be on to something. Michael, you should probably let Oakley and Gunterson know about that."

Hoyt pulled out his phone and called Mitchell Gunterson who was standing right next to Oakley. He passed along the information to the Homeland Security agent. "But how does he know…" He stopped. "Never mind. Tell him okay, I'll contact the commander of the training center and give him an alert." Mitchell passed that on and hung up. Oakley was already on the phone with the training center and when he hung up, he turned to Gunterson. "I've never had too much faith in this kind of stuff."

Gunterson shrugged his shoulders. "I've never had any dealings with anything like this but you've got to admit it makes sense…no matter how he's getting the ideas." They went back to organizing the group that they were putting together.

Matt had taken over control of the computer again and had zoomed in on an area about one hundred miles from the Twenty Nine Palms base. It was just outside of Barstow, California. As he started searching, he had another thought: abandoned mines. There were quite a few in that area. He pulled up an internet browser and started searching. Roy was looking over his shoulder. "That's makes a lot of sense, Matt. It wouldn't show up like the bunker you were talking about." He patted his nephew on the back.

Hoyt walked closer. "Abandoned mines?" He nodded. "Yeah, that would work: protected from the weather, unspottable from the air…I guess they would have to shore up something like that, you know, supports and all…" He looked at Roy. "Why does he always think of things like this? The man makes me feel downright stupid at times." Matt snickered.

"I believe it's called "thinking outside the box", Michael." Roy watched as Matt looked through details of several of the abandoned mines in the area. He stopped and pointed at a map on the screen. Roy read the information at the bottom of the page. "Bingo. I'll bet that's it."

Matt printed out the information and Hoyt called Gunterson back to let him know. "Yeah, I could see that. Tell him I said good work."

Hoyt passed the message along to the private investigator who had zoomed the satellite in on the location of the mine. There were several trucks parked very close to the area. Matt printed out a picture of it and got up to head back to Hoyt's office. Roy grabbed his shoulder. "Matt, you need to go on to the hospital and get that throat taken care of, alright?" The younger man slipped out of his uncle's grasp and headed on toward the door with Hoyt and Roy right on his heels. He went downstairs to the gym and opened up the closet, pulling out two bullet proof vests and handed one to his uncle as he reached in and grabbed a utility belt with a holster. He pulled a Sig Sauer out of his waistband and put it in the holster, then put the belt on and headed back upstairs.

"Somehow I don't think he's headed to the hospital, Roy." Hoyt rolled his eyes as they waited for the elevator.


	6. Chapter 6

**CHAPTER 6**

Back at Hoyt's office Oakley and Gunterson had assembled a team. There would be four helicopters, along with ten Mine Resistant Ambush Protected (MRAP) vehicles capable of carrying six agents. After being reassured by Gunterson that he would only use ATF agents that he could personally vouch for, Oakley agreed to the joint operation. When Matt, Hoyt, and Roy walked back into the office they were down to choosing the last three agents.

Matt spoke up. "You've already got 'em: right here." He indicated himself, his uncle, and Hoyt. "But you're not…" Oakley started in until Matt got right up in his face and gave him a look that scared Gunterson, who wasn't even the one in Matt's sights. "Okay, that's the last three then, Gunterson." Oakley cleared his throat. Matt nudged Hoyt, who gave the Homeland Security agent the satellite photo that had been printed out showing the vehicles outside the mine in question. He was impressed. "How in the world did you figure all of this out?"

Matt just grinned. "When do we move?" He could barely speak above a whisper.

"The task force is being gathered as we speak. We're going to head out in about thirty minutes from our office just off of Temple Street. See you there." He held out his hand to Matt, who shook it and then looked at Hoyt and Roy. "Who's driving?"

"I guess I am. Never knew I was going to be your chauffeur." He slapped Matt on the back then went around his desk and pulled out extra magazines for his pistol and a bullet proof vest out of his filing cabinet. They headed out to the elevator under the watchful eyes of the police officers in the outer office who were still trying to figure out what was going on.

Once they joined up with the rest of the members of the task force they were assigned to an MRAP being driven by one of the Homeland Security agents, Carl Martin. He looked at his passengers and shook his head, grinning. Hoyt spoke up: "Is there a problem?"

"Nope, no problem. I heard about what happened with Oakley. You sure don't look like the kind to grab somebody like that." He snickered.

"Well, normally he would have done it, but he's a little under the weather so I helped him out." He pointed at Matt who was grinning.

"Yeah, now see, he LOOKS like he would do it. Kinda got that cowboy attitude going on, you know?" The agent looked up at Matt in the mirror as all three of them busted out laughing.

"Maybe that's because he is." Roy was still chuckling.

Gunterson was sitting in the front along with another ATF agent named Boyce, who craned his neck around to look at Matt. "Oh, this is the guy you were telling me about – the cattle rustling deal. Heh heh! Dude, I've gotta shake your hand when we get out of this tin can. He told me you put Oakley in his place earlier." Matt was trying for an innocent look but it wasn't working.

"Man I'm glad I don't have to pay for the gas for this thing." Roy had been looking at the construction of the MRAP: it was heavily armored.

"Yeah, it gets about three miles per gallon." Martin was waiting for Roy's response.

"Come to think of it, I already AM paying for it." He looked at Hoyt. "So are you."

"Nope. I'm letting your nephew pay for my part." Michael snickered and everyone inside the vehicle started laughing again.

"I wonder if the rest of 'em are having as much fun as us?" Matt nudged Hoyt in the ribs.

"Man, you sound like you swallowed a box of razor blades back there!" Martin looked at Matt in the rearview mirror.

"Oh, Junior here has to get his tonsils out when we're done." Roy patted his nephew on the head. "But don't tell him he's being childish – you'll receive a hand signal I'm sure you don't want."

The hundred mile ride to Barstow sped up greatly after they got away from the downtown area. Matt tilted his head back, closing his eyes. Roy and Hoyt exchanged looks. A few minutes later he was sleeping. Hoyt leaned over slightly and whispered to Roy, "I hope he doesn't have another one." Roy nodded and kept an eye on his nephew. Their vehicle was the second in line in the convoy that was moving east on I-10. Oakley was in the first.

In a little while they were merging onto I-15 and then State Route 247. Matt had slept the entire time without a nightmare. Roy woke him up when they reached 247. "Matt." He gently shook him with no response. "Matt, wake up." Still no response. "Matt, come on we're almost there. Wake up." He shook him a little harder and he started to wake up and jumped slightly. "We're almost there, Matt." Houston sat up a little straighter and looked around, trying to get his bearings.

"Alright, this is the road here." Martin turned off onto a dirt road. "You boys hold on. It's going to be a bumpy one. Oh by the way, did you know these MRAP's turn over easy?" No one replied. "And watch your step when you get out – it's a long ways down to the ground." They stopped just shy of the mine area and Oakley got out of the lead vehicle and walked back towards Houston. He, Roy, and Hoyt all slid out and onto the ground, taking the AR-15's with them that they had been assigned at the office before they left.

"Houston, we're about half a mile away from the entrance. I thought you might want to be in the lead on this." He smiled at the private investigator. Matt tried to thank him but his voice wouldn't cooperate. He headed on up the road a little ways, accompanied by Roy, Hoyt, Gunterson, and Boyce. Matt knew that just beyond the rise up ahead was the entrance to the mine. He jogged up the slope and dropped down on his belly, crawling forward just enough to be able to see the entrance. Parked right outside the mine was a tanker truck.

"I'll be damned." Hoyt had moved up next to Matt. "You were right." As they watched a group of children came outside the mine and began playing soccer in the sand and dirt of the canyon.

"Damn it." Matt lay his head down, then looked over at Roy and Boyce. "I had hoped there weren't any women or children around." He rolled over on his back and thought. "Maybe when it starts to get dark, or if they don't have anyone posted outside, I can sneak down and move the tanker."

Roy thought about it. "That would keep them from being injured because of the tanker exploding but what about gunshots?"

Matt shrugged. "About the only thing I can change is that tanker." His uncle nodded and looked at Hoyt.

"That sounds like the most reasonable thing. If we could get it out of there, then maybe move the group in and get the drop on them. But that's a lot of if's and maybe's." Hoyt looked back over the ridge. "Damn! Somebody is getting into the tanker!" Matt rolled back over and looked, then scooted backwards down the slope and took off running back toward the convoy of federal agents. Hoyt and Roy followed suit. Boyce ran behind them radioing to Oakley what they had discovered.

By the time Matt got back down to the convoy, they had already moved most of the vehicles and formed them into a barricade of sorts. "Move three of them up next to the ridge. When the tanker gets past it, move them into the road and block him from going back to the mine." Oakley nodded and radioed the instructions to three of the drivers. Everyone loaded back up into the vehicles and waited. In a minute, the tanker came up over the ridge and started descending into the slight valley where the agents were waiting. When the driver saw what was happening, he threw on the brakes and skidded to a stop, before shifting the truck into reverse. Apparently he then saw the three MRAP's that had been ordered to block his retreat. He put the truck back in gear and began heading directly for the barricade.

"Damn it!" Oakley was sitting in one of the vehicles that were directly in the path of the oncoming tanker.

Matt was now seated in the front of the vehicle that he had been assigned to, which was on the western end of the barricade. "Martin, he may try to swing around us. Be ready to chase him." The Homeland Security agent nodded. Sure enough the driver swung wide and started around the end of the barricade, bouncing the tanker across the bumpy and uneven desert floor. Martin started after him and managed to pass him. "Floor it! We need to put some distance between us." The agent did as Matt instructed and had gotten almost a quarter of a mile ahead of the tanker when Matt's painfully scratchy voice told him to stop. "Everybody out! Get up in the rocks!" They all bailed out of the MRAP and started for the eastern side of the road, except for Matt, who walked right into the center of it. As the driver made to swerve around the MRAP as he had done before, Matt slowly raised the AR-15 and fired a short burst at the bottom load valve on the tanker's side. As soon as the first shot hit home, the tanker exploded. Parts of the tank went flying like shrapnel in every direction and there was a huge fireball. The ground shook and a wave of heat from the explosion rolled across the already hot floor of the desert. Everyone ducked down until there were no longer pieces of metal falling to earth.

Roy's heart was pounding. Matt had been so close to the tanker when it exploded. His heart was racing and he looked at Hoyt. Both men were afraid that the private investigator might be dead. They both jumped up and looked where he had been standing.

Matt was lying on the ground, face down and unmoving. Roy took off running to his nephew. He had almost lost the man a couple of times since they had been reunited. Hoyt was right next to him, having the same dire thoughts going through his head. The man had a child due in just a matter of weeks. When they reached him, both knelt down and felt for a pulse and were relieved when they found one. They carefully rolled him over. The only marks on him were a couple of small cuts on his face, but he was unconscious. Roy felt his head. He was burning up. Hoyt radioed for a helicopter to be brought in, and he along with Roy and Gunterson loaded Matt into the helicopter. Hoyt and Roy stayed with him as they flew to the hospital in Los Angeles.

There was a team of doctors and nurses standing by when the chopper landed. Hoyt had called ahead and explained the situation. Carol LeMasters, Matt's doctor, was there waiting when he was rolled into the emergency room. After a few minutes, he was prepped for surgery and wheeled down the hall and into a waiting elevator and taken to the operating room.

After talking with Carol, Roy pulled out his phone and dialed CJ. She answered on the first ring, knowing that something was wrong. All day she had been unable to shake the feeling and when her phone rang and she saw Roy's name on the ID, she just knew something had happened to her husband. "What happened, Uncle Roy?"

"He took out a tanker truck with an AR-15. Hit one of the valves on it. When we got to him, he was unconscious. Carol was here at the hospital waiting when we flew in. They just took him to surgery for the tonsils."

"So he didn't get hurt by the tanker?" CJ had been holding her breath the whole time that Roy had been talking.

"No, the fever got him. It was 104 when he got here. Carol says that the fever should start dropping after they get his tonsils out and the antibiotics kick in." She could tell by the sound of Roy's voice that he was relieved.

"Okay, I'm about to head that way. I got the deal wrapped up early and I should be there in about five and half hours." She was shaking from head to toe and very close to tears.

"Are you sure you're okay?" Roy could hear her voice quaver.

"Yeah, I'll be okay. I just want to get to him as soon as possible. Love you, Uncle Roy."

"I love you, too doll, you take care of yourself and try to get a nap in on the flight. I'll be here with him so don't worry, okay?"

"Alright. See you in a while." She hung up and told Vince and Rosa what had happened.

"He'll be okay, CJ. Tonsils are no big deal. Give him a couple of weeks and he'll be just fine." He hugged her as they walked into the hangar at the airport and the three of them boarded the jet.


	7. Chapter 7

**CHAPTER 7**

At 9:30, CJ walked into the hospital along with Rosa and Vince, who had refused to let her drive from the airport. They were met in the lobby by Michael Hoyt, who other than being slightly disheveled and having a few stains on his shirt and dirt on the knees of his pants, looked like he normally did. He pulled CJ into a big hug. The smile on his face told her that everything was fine. "They just moved him into a room a few minutes ago. You remember Whitetree, the head of security?" He was looking at Vince who nodded. "He made sure that we could stay with him and told the nurses to let you all in." They boarded the elevator and made their way up to the third floor, then down the hallway to Matt's room where, as usual, there were two police officers posted on the door. Hoyt opened the door for them and they quietly walked in to find Roy sleeping in a chair next to the bed.

CJ walked up to the side of the bed to get a look at her husband. Other than the fact that he was extremely pale and had a couple of small cuts on his face, he looked fine. She leaned over and kissed his cheek. "He's still running a fever," she whispered to the others. Running her fingers through his hair, CJ smiled down at him. He still looked like the ten year old boy that she had met and fallen in love with over twenty years ago. Mama walked up next to her and patted on his hand, moving aside so Vince could see him as well. He looked down at his best friend and squeezed his hand.

"Looks like he's finally getting some sleep." Hoyt was standing at the foot of the bed. "Did Roy tell you how this whole thing played out?"

CJ shook her head no and walked over to him and they sat down. Hoyt took CJ by the hand. "You know the nightmares he was having?" She nodded. "They weren't nightmares. They were premonitions." Vince looked at him like he had lost his mind. "No, I'm not crazy. Roy will tell you the same thing. Up until today I never believed in anything like that." Vince was still looking doubtful. "Did you tell them about the dreams?" CJ shook her head no. "Tell them what he told you and then I'll add the rest." He sat back in the chair with his arms crossed, smiling.

"Matt's been having trouble sleeping for the last week or so. He would wake up screaming, sweating, and tell me that there was a big explosion and a ball of fire." She looked over at Hoyt. "He said it was in the desert."

"Uh huh, and when it happened to him in my office the first time today, he said that he could feel the heat from the flames and the ground was shaking. Then the second time it happened, just a few minutes later, he said that right before the explosion he had seen a Marine. That's when he told Roy to check near the Marine base at Twenty Nine Palms." He leaned forward. "After you and I talked about his trip to see Carol, we went to his office and …" Hoyt almost spilled the beans. Vince gave him a knowing smile and a wink. "We used his computer. So anyway, he dozes off again and that time he sees a tanker truck. He knew that they used a lot of aircraft at the Marine base and put the two together: aviation fuel." Vince was really starting to get interested now. He looked back over his shoulder at Matt who was still asleep. "He kept looking on the computer…" Hoyt was afraid to say too much about that part, "and remembered that there are a lot of abandoned mines in that area. It would be a perfect place, virtually undetectable from the air, protected from the weather… you see?" CJ nodded. "And that's when he found the mine and saw vehicles outside of it."

"How did he…" CJ stopped and Hoyt could see the realization. "Ohhhh, that's what…okay." She smiled and chuckled. "Go ahead." Mama looked incredibly confused by all of it.

"So then we met up with Homeland Security and ATF." Hoyt explained the rest of how it had happened. "I tell you, when we looked over that ridge and I saw a tanker truck there, I became a believer real quick."

Vince couldn't believe what he had just heard and turned to look at Matt once more. "Huh, well, yeah I guess that would do it."

"CJ, you need to go home and get some rest. He's going to be just fine." Mama looked at her. CJ began shaking her head no.

Vince took up the cause. "Girl, if he wakes up and finds you here instead of at home sleeping he is going to be pissed and you know it." She kept shaking her head.

Roy was awake and came over to the group. "CJ, go home. I'll be here with him." He rubbed her shoulders and felt the sobs as they started to come out.

"Hey now," Vince knelt down in front of her. "Look, these two guys have had a full day thanks to your man over there." He jerked his head in Matt's direction and CJ started smiling. "I'll stay here with him. Roy can take you girls back to the house. I promise to keep a good eye on him, okay?"

"But he's always been there when I've been in the hospital and woke up." She started in crying again.

"Yes he has, but then he wasn't seven months pregnant either, was he?" Roy leaned down and gave her a hug. "He wants you to take care of yourself and his daughter."

CJ smiled again. "I keep telling y'all it's a boy."

Hoyt leaned forward and looked at her. "After what he proved today, I'm going to agree with him: it's a girl." They all started chuckling. "Go home, CJ. Vince and I will both stay here with him."

"Okay. Let me tell him goodbye." She got up walked back over to Matt who still hadn't moved a muscle. Leaning over the rail she kissed him on the cheek again and whispered to him, "Love you, Cowboy. Be good tonight." After Roy and Mama told him goodnight, the three of them left and headed to the ranch.

By 7:00 the next morning, CJ was already dressed and ready to get back to Matt's side. Roy and Rosa went with her and when they walked in the room, Vince was sitting there reading the paper, while Hoyt and Matt were both still asleep. Vince got up and stretched then walked over to CJ giving her a hug. "He hasn't budged an inch all night. Slept straight through."

She walked over to his side and kissed his forehead. "He's still pretty warm."

Vince nodded. "They checked his temperature a few minutes ago – it was 101."

"Sure beats the 104 he had when he got here yesterday." Roy walked over and patted his nephew's hand. "I think he's decided it's time to catch up on his sleep." He smiled and walked back over to CJ.

Hoyt started talking in his sleep just then. "But Mom, I don't wanna go to school." Vince and CJ both started giggling, then Roy and Rosa started.

Roy looked at his watch. "He may not be going to school today, but I bet he's going to work." He walked over and woke up the sleeping detective.

"What? Is everything okay?" He looked around at Matt and then at the others as they started giggling again. "What? What'd I miss?"

"Did you skip school a lot as a kid, Michael?" CJ walked over and put a hand on his shoulder.

"Are you kidding? My mom would have killed me." The laughter in the room increased. "What in the hell is so funny?" He looked at the rest of them like they had lost their minds.

"Don't worry about it. Are you going to work today – or will you be playing hooky?" Roy snickered.

Hoyt looked at his watch and groaned. "Ohhhh, if I only could play hooky. I've got a ton of paperwork and five unsolved murders. And this one here drug me out in the middle of nowhere yesterday." He started walking toward the door. "Lousy PI's."

"Thanks for staying with him, Michael." CJ gave him a hug.

"Well…maybe some PI's aren't too bad." He gave her a peck on the cheek. "Call me if you need anything, okay?" She nodded and he headed on out the door.

"We need to pick up Matt's truck. It's still at the station." Roy looked at Vince. "Do you want to be the interim "Dream Truck" driver while he's resting up?"

"Sure. I'll crank it up and see how fast it can go." He gave CJ a hug. "I'll be back in a little bit. You girls stay out of trouble."

"Don't get a speeding ticket." CJ snickered as the pair walked out of the room.

It wasn't until late that afternoon that Matt woke up. CJ was getting worried about him, but then thought about how much sleep he had been missing and decided the he was doing just what he needed to do. The nurse had come in to check on him and was taking his temperature when he woke up to see CJ standing right by his side. He tried to talk but nothing came out. The nurse handed CJ a cup of ice chips. "He's going to want these." CJ spooned some into his mouth and leaned over, giving him a kiss on the forehead.

"Hi." She smiled down at him. He tried to talk again but still couldn't get anything out, but mouthed the words "Love you, Babe". CJ patted his hand. "I love you, too sweetie." She spooned more ice chips into his mouth. "Do you want your surprise I told you about?" He nodded. "Okay, close your eyes." Matt closed them and Vince and Mama moved to the other side of his bed. "Alright, open them." He looked back at her, somewhat confused. "Look over there." CJ pointed to the left side of his bed. Matt turned his head and his mouth dropped open, then he smiled and reached to give Mama a hug and shook hands with Vince. "So do you like it?" He nodded and mouthed the words "love it".

After being fed ice cream by CJ and a popsicle by Mama, Matt once again dozed off and slept for a few hours. "He really is tuckered out, huh?" Vince and CJ were about to go out to dinner.

"I guess after what he's been through for the last week he's got a right." CJ kissed him and as they were about to leave, Roy and Hoyt came in accompanied by Gunterson and Oakley.

"Wow, CJ you look great!" Mitchell took CJ by the hand and looked at her baby bump. "How much longer?"

"About twelve weeks." She shook Oakley's hand when Mitchell introduced them.

"I had no idea he was so sick. No wonder he jumped me like he did yesterday…of course the fact that I was being a jerk didn't have a thing in the world to do with it." They all chuckled. "He's got to be one tough guy, though, to do what he did yesterday when he was that sick." He looked at Gunterson. "Remind me not to piss him off when he's well."

"I saw on the news that it was Colton Morris, the leader of the group, who was driving the tanker." CJ had watched the coverage of the story and was absolutely amazed when she saw what little was left of the tanker.

"Well, we think it was him – but the ME said there wasn't enough DNA left in the charred remains to make a positive identification." Oakley seemed worried about that, and CJ really couldn't blame him. "Mrs. Houston, your husband made one hell of a shot. That tanker was really moving when it passed him."

She smiled. "Well, he's a pretty good shot."

"Pretty good, hell! He's a terrific shot." Gunterson looked over at the private investigator. "Has he been awake any at all?"

"He was awake earlier. We got him to eat some ice cream and a popsicle." She looked back over at her husband. "It's been a rough week or so for him – he hasn't been getting much sleep so I guess he's making up for it now."

"I was hoping he would be awake so I could thank him." Oakley looked a little ashamed. "I was a real jerk towards him yesterday. But I guarantee you – I won't make that mistake again." Everyone chuckled over that. "Guess I better get going – I've still got a ton of paperwork to fill out. We had a little bit of a gun battle when we went to get the rest of the members out of the mine. One of them was killed and we didn't have any injuries on our side. All in all, it ended a lot better than I anticipated – thanks to Houston."

"CJ, is there anything that you need?" Hoyt reached over and put an arm around her.

"No, we're fine. Vince and I are about to go grab something to eat and then we're going to come back here for a while. But thanks, Michael."

"Guess I better get back to work myself. You call me if you need anything, okay?" He gave CJ a peck on the check and left followed by Oakley and Gunterson.

"Mama, are you sure you don't want to go, too?" CJ turned back to face her.

"No, Roy and I have a date when you two get back." She smiled at the expression on her son's face. "Close your mouth, Vincenzo, you'll draw flies." Roy walked over and sat down next to her.

"Be back in a little bit." CJ grabbed Vince's hand and drug him out of the room.


	8. Chapter 8

**CHAPTER 8**

A few days later, Matt was back at home under the watchful eyes of both CJ and Mama. He seemed a little depressed, and when she got the chance to speak to him alone, CJ asked her husband what was bothering him. In a still somewhat hoarse voice he answered her. "I had hoped we would be spending our anniversary in Tahiti, CJ. I'm sorry." He took her hand in his.

"Well now that's not anything to be upset about is it?" She snuggled up next to him in the recliner and laid her head on his chest.

"That was part of the reason I bought it, Babe." He kissed the top of her head.

"Who says it can only get used on our anniversary?" She looked up at him with mischievous, sparkling eyes.

"Oh really?" He turned her head up to him and softly kissed her lips.

"Uh huh." She reached up and ran her fingers through his hair. "I thought maybe when you're feeling a little better we could go."

"Oh, well then, okay." He gave her a big smile. "Are you sure you feel like it? I mean, you know…" he pointed at the baby bump.

"Sure. Why not?" She pulled him down to her and gave him another kiss. "But you know, next year we might have to find a baby sitter." They both laughed and kissed again.

Just then Vince wandered into the den, his hands shoved down in his pockets, looking worried. "Good Lord, is that all you people do around here?" He looked at Matt and CJ.

"What?" Matt's head snapped up.

"Here you two are making out and they're out by the pool…." He just shook his head.

"Who's out by the pool?" Matt and CJ were both confused.

"Roy and my mom, that's who!" Vince was absolutely disgusted.

"Really?" Matt snapped the recliner into the upright position and headed for the kitchen to get a look for himself.

"Matt! Really!" CJ followed along behind. "Let them have some privacy!"

"Whoa!" Matt stood at the kitchen window looking out in surprise. He started laughing. "Gees, CJ we might be able to learn a thing or two from them."

"Matt, you should be… wow! They are really…hmm." She looked over at her husband who wiggled his eyebrows at her, then leaned over and picked her up and started carrying her back to the bedroom.

"Oh, no you don't! Houston, that's your uncle out there kissing all over my mom! Come on, man you gotta help me out here!" Vince started following them back through the house. "No seriously, man, come on outta there!"

Matt set CJ down just inside of the bedroom and grinned at his friend as he closed and locked the door.


End file.
